Catholic Committee On Scouting

Victoria Diocese

Victoria, Texas

What Is The Catholic Committee On Scouting??

The Catholic Committee on Scouting is an organization which devotes its time and energy to promoting the Catholic aspects of Scouting. We feel that with the problems and temptations today's youth are subjected to, it is very important to promote healthy religious attitudes whenever possible and Scouting is an excellent way to do it. We are a Catholic based organization and are aggressively fulfilling a diocese wide need for the youth of the Victoria Diocese. To better identify what we do, I would like to take each activity we are involved in and explain it in more detail.

We keep an up to date data base on all of the Cubmasters, Scoutmasters, Explorer Advisors, Varsity Coaches, District Executives, Religious Emblems Councilors for the different religious Emblems, Knights of Columbus Grand Knights, Junior High School Principals, High School Principals, and Parish Priests of the Victoria Diocese. In the data base are all of the recipients of the St. George, Bronze Pelican, Light of Christ, Agnus Dei, Parvuli Dei, Ad Altare Dei, and Pope Pius XII Scouting Religious Emblems. We use this data for our diocese wide mailings for all of our other activities and record keeping for future information.

Every Spring the C. C. S. sponsors an Ecumenical religious retreat for the Boy Scouts. We have a very good program which has proven to be well received by the Boy Scouts by showing how being a good Christian and a good Scout goes hand in hand. The Knights of Columbus and other groups help us by supplying and preparing the main meals for the weekend. This year we had about 146 boys and 58 adults participate and with the help of the local Knights of Columbus cooking most of the meals, it went very well and everyone had a lot of fun. Normally we have the Retreat in Ganado at Camp Mauritz.

In the Fall the C. C. S. sponsors an Awards Banquet where we present the Adult Scouting Emblems, the St. George and the Bronze Pelican, recognize the latest Eagle Scouts, and recognize the Ad Altare Dei, the Agnus Dei, the ParVuli Dei, the Light of Christ, and Pope Pius XII Medals recipients. We encourage the boys who received the Ad Altare Dei, ParVuli Dei and Pope Pius XII Medals to present the colors and participate in the ceremonies. We make it a special evening by inviting the boys' families to be there too. We hope this will help to encourage more boys to participate in the Religious Emblems Program.

Every year the C. C. S. sponsors a Cub Scout Day of Recollection, which is a Cub Scout Retreat. There are all sorts of activities planned for the one day event with priority placed on the relationship between God and Scouting. We hope it will continue to be as much of a success as our other programs. The Day of Recollection is usually held at Camp Mauritz in Ganado. There are games which encourage the Cub Scouts to work together as a team. There are different crafts for each age group to work on. The Webelos have their own program which helps to keep their interest up for those who return year after year. Also there is a religious section which explains and promotes the religious emblems of the Cub Scouts. The day ends with a Mass and Protestant service for the Cub Scouts.

The Religious Emblems Program consists of working with the boys and training more counselors for the Agnus Dei, Parvuli Dei, Ad Altare Dei, and Pope Pius XII Emblems within the Diocese. Also we solicit the involvement of Troops and Packs to help their boys to obtain these religious emblems. We have had Counselor training sessions and plan to have another this Spring. We have had 101 boys receive the Ad Altare Dei Emblems in seven years. We also have a Pope Pius XII class each year for the older scouts, who are in High School and have the Ad Altare Dei or are in an explorer post. Thus far we have had twenty recipients of the Pope Pius XII emblem. Interest in the Cubscout religious emblem, the ParVuli Dei, has been increasing with our effort to get more Packs involved in the program in the Diocese. Proof of that shows up with the 18 Cubs getting the ParVuli Dei and 22 Cubs getting the Agnus Dei this year. Agnus Dei was introduced and offered to the Cub Scouts in 1992. The new Emblem, the Light of Christ, was really promoted in 1994 and the Tiger cubs are encouraged to work on it.

We do have many different activities and are always looking for new ways to promote the religious side of Scouting and we feel, that as far as this side of Scouting is concerned, this organization is the most aggressive in the area. Each year we have a booth at the three different district Scout Shows and have had a lot of positive feedback from that. Several Diocese Parishes, the Knights of Columbus, many other organizations, and individuals have made it possible up to now. It takes a lot of time and hard work to make these activities a reality, so believe me, when I say we are always looking for more help. If you think you could spare some of your time, to help our young people today and make a difference for tomorrow, please, don't hesitate to contact anyone on the committee.